CNN
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The University of Arizona apologized after a portion of the team’s fanbase sang an “unacceptable chant” directed towards Brigham Young University (BYU) following the Wildcats’ men’s basketball team’s defeat at the hands of the Cougars on Saturday.
Videos on social media appear to show Arizona fans chanting “F**k the Mormons” after the 96-95 loss.
“Following tonight’s men’s basketball game, it was brought to our attention that an unacceptable chant occurred,” Arizona’s athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois said in a statement.
“On behalf of the University of Arizona Athletic Department, we apologize to BYU, their student-athletes, coaches and fans. The chant is not reflective of who we are and should not have happened.”
When contacted by CNN for comment, BYU said the recent behavior from opposing fans “crossed a line,” while also highlighting that there are members of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints outside of Utah.
“We would hope that more people could see that disparaging someone’s religion crosses that line. There have been a few highly publicized chants at our road games over the past few years, but really, we hear these types of things often, with a variety of our teams, in a variety of venues,” BYU said in a statement sent to CNN.
“We understand that us having to hear some bad words is a small consideration when viewed in the wide landscape of issues in our country or even in college athletics right now. However, we also believe that words really do matter, and we believe that we as a society should examine anywhere we can eliminate prejudice and hate.
“While we’ll never be able to control the amount of negativity we experience at a road game, we can always control the amount of positivity that we strive to share.”
BYU was founded in 1875 by the second president of the Mormon church, Brigham Young. The university is supported by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and nearly all its students are Mormon.
The shock road victory for BYU at No. 19 Arizona’s McKale Memorial Center ended with tensions riding high after a contentious foul call helped decide the result in their favor.
With less than four seconds remaining and trailing by a point, BYU were awarded two free throws after Wildcats forward Trey Townsend was adjudged to have fouled Richie Saunders, to the dismay of the vocal home crowd.
Saunders drained both attempts to give the Cougars a one-point lead and BYU was able to stave off Arizona’s last ditch effort with just 3.2 seconds remaining for a famous victory.
Players from the two teams had to be separated after the final buzzer when BYU’s Mawot Mag and Arizona’s Caleb Love – who was the game’s top scorer with 27 points – exchanged words, needing coaches and teammates to intervene.
Saunders led the way for BYU with 23 points as the Cougars won their fourth game in a row and second consecutive over a ranked opponent after their 91-57 victory over No. 23 Kansas on Tuesday.